Dousing the flame
by Lyrical Soul
Summary: Veronica Mars fan fiction continuation of where season 3 left off. I don't own any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Logan was self aware of the fact that he had probably lived a life so far full of more downs than ups and sometimes he let it g

Logan was self aware of the fact that he had probably lived a life so far full of more downs than ups and sometimes he let it get the best of him but there was one up he just never wanted to let go of willingly. He probably should have prepared himself before jumping into that up so incredibly head first but that just wasn't who he was. The brooding young man considered himself to be someone who loved with all their entire heart and that sometimes put him in some very painful situations, like now for example. He had tried hard to try and replace the up that had turned into a down recently with other ups but they just didn't compare. It was an odd sensation being in a relationship with Parker, she was kind, beautiful, funny and she didn't watch his every move with a device if something a little suspicious came up but it just wasn't right for him. It was comfortable and it was strange to say the least for Logan to be in a relationship that was comfortable, no turbulence and quite normal.

Normal was one of those words he hadn't heard too often in his spectacle of a life and perhaps he should have been cherishing his relationship with Parker but he just couldn't seem to stay away from that one epic up, as much as he tried. He had steered clear of Veronica but when his room mate brought to his attention a particular scandalous video he couldn't help but need to protect the blonde that didn't need protecting. Logan in a situation like this didn't think with his head just his heart, which lead him to beat Veronica's current beau into oblivion, he thought he was being chivalrous but of course she didn't see things that way. The reactions he had received were not what he expected, his then girlfriend dumped him because it was so obvious to her that he was still in love with the super sleuth and yet he'd been trying to mask that feeling. Veronica had taken things on a similar wave length deciding that washing her hands of the unreformable bad boy was the best option.

For Logan this was not an option, he couldn't just let her cut him out of her life like that, especially when he still loved her. However he was well aware how hard it was to get through to Veronica Mars, it was an impossible feat that he had never really achieved but he was really determined to win her back even if just as a friend. He knew he had made many mistakes and some of them were not redeemable but he was determined to redeem himself for this one. He saw his opening at the cafeteria a week later, Veronica was on her own so he took the opportunity to apologise and he did, sincerely. He had been set to walk away with a little progress in his pocket but one Gorya Sorokin saw fit to increase Logan's point count for the day. Veronica as usual tried to do the right thing by keeping him out of trouble, warning him of the connections this guy seemed to have and he would have thought she would understand that it would not have gotten through to him because it didn't. The situation was quite simple; a guy had filmed the girl he loved fooling around with another without her knowledge he had to make this right in his own way. So he beat the right criminal into oblivion, apologized to Piz and knew that when he looked back at Veronica that not all was lost. There was still something there worth fighting for and Logan was a sore loser.

In the days to come Veronica had found herself trying to find the cons with Piz and she was having an extremely tough time. He was the guy she should be with, the guy she should be happy to be with and if she didn't think about it she would say she was happy but when she searched her heart for any real feelings for Piz all she found was a contentment that she was settling for. He was such a polar opposite to Logan, kind, smart, aspiring for a career, down to earth and a pacifist, this would be the definition of a dream guy but it wasn't the definition of her dream guy. What she was really looking for was a reason to break up with Piz that didn't make her out to be the bad guy but that wasn't going to happen so she was just going to settle for 'normal' even if it wasn't what she really wanted. This relationship was just so smooth, Piz didn't go beating anyone who tried to hurt Veronica up, he didn't go to Mexico with less than reputable people, he didn't hire people to protect her without her knowledge, he didn't do anything wrong. It just wasn't epic. Epic that simple four letter word that Logan had described them as and she smiled to herself at the thought of her ex and how his heart was always in the right place even if his actions were sometimes a bit harsh.

The truth was when he beat up Gory Veronica realised she was still very much in love with him, but things weren't that simple and they never would be. Her relationship with Logan was always complicated and hard, she wished it wasn't but that was kind of what she loved. Despite hating it when Logan got thrown in jail for beating someone up she loved that he was so protective, she knew he cared because he always showed it and the trust thing was there she just had trouble letting herself trust him completely. It was dangerous territory for the blonde but she loved danger, safe was boring and what she had with Piz was safe and relaxing but wasn't epic.

"Hey what are you thinking about?" Piz said as he looked across his girlfriends shoulder from the book he was reading.

Veronica was shaken from her thoughts, looking away from her laptop screen she smiled up at Piz. "Oh just going to Virginia for my internship, I'm just wondering what disguises I should take, you know Sydney Bristow it up" Of course she couldn't reveal her true thoughts to Piz so as usual she disguised it with some wit.

"What for? When you're getting everyone their coffee? Only top secret mission you'll be getting" He said with a small laugh.

"Please ruin my fantasies of the FBI with the reality of my internship" She said with an exasperated sigh.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to get you to stay here…" He said as his lips lowered to her level and they kissed.

Veronica naturally kissed back but there was just a lack of fire, it was like this all the time. "We've been over this, we'll call each other, you can tell me about the radio world and I can fill you in on all the underground drug trades I'll be infiltrating. It'll be hot"

"So hot" He murmured as he kissed her again, his fingers brushing away some hair that covered her face.

She hoped that maybe in those twelve weeks while she was gone he'd cheat on her, but the reality of that happening was extremely slim.

Veronica was walking down the halls of the girl's dorms, coming from Mac's room when she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. She smiled as soon as she heard his voice, she shouldn't have been smiling because of him but she couldn't change how her heart felt. Though if she let it show things could go wrong and she didn't want that. Yes she did but she was afraid of all the people who would get hurt, in particular Piz. He was a good guy and Wallace had warned her about tearing his heart to pieces and she didn't want to do that but Veronica had never been the kind of girl to just settle but she also had never been the type of girl who intentionally hurt people she knew that were genuine.

"What Logan" She said in a cool voice, trying to keep her stony façade going.

"What no hello? I thought you said we were friends again" The taller male said as he caught up to her.

"Correction, I said that we were getting there" Even though the 'there' she wanted was to be with him again.

"I apologised to Piz and I meant it, I am sorry for beating him up, I am sorry for everything I did wrong and I know that just saying those words isn't enough to make up for it but I really want to be your friend'

"Logan, do you even know how to be my friend? You make things so hard and I know you don't mean to but that's just who you are and I realise that now" She said, there was truth to that statement; he was making things hard for her because she was in a stable relationship yet she wanted to be more than friends with him. Some people would think she was naïve thinking that this was a love that would last but Veronica didn't feel the same love that she did with Duncan, this just seemed larger than life and even though he'd hurt her several times she couldn't ignore the reality of it.

"Veronica please just let me try" He said as he stepped in front of her and continued to walk backwards so he could look at her, maybe so she could see the sincerity in his eyes.

Letting out a sigh she stopped and looked and Logan for a bit before she started speaking. "Maybe when I get back from Virginia I'll be in a place where I'm ready to be friends with you again"

"Virginia? Why are you going to Virginia?"

"I got the internship at the FBI for the summer, it's for twelve weeks, plenty of time for me to determine whether or not we can be friends" The expression on Logan's face showed a mixture of surprise, pride and hurt. A smile eventually began to form on his lips, one of his small ones that she always found so adorable.

"Congratulations, I know it's what you've wanted for so long. Look I won't take up any more of your time, I just hope that when you get back you'll want to give our friendship another shot" That was the last she saw of Logan for a while; it was strange not having him around, it just didn't feel right.

In the moment Veronica had revealed to Logan that she had gotten the internship at the FBI he had felt an overwhelming sense of pride, he knew it was what she had wanted and he was happy for her and then he realised she would be gone for twelve weeks, twelve weeks he wouldn't be seeing her. He was sure Piz had already realised this and wanted her to stay but one thing he knew about Piz was that he wouldn't go to extensive measures to see her or convince her to stay. Logan on the other hand saw a plus side to the twelve weeks, a window in which he may be able to get her back. Parker had opened his eyes, he did still love her and he wanted her back. Even though when he had broken up with her he realised it was a struggle being with someone like Veronica, especially when it seemed like she never needed him but now he knew that wasn't the truth and he was formulating a plan this time around.


	2. Chapter 2

Logan was self aware of the fact that he had probably lived a life so far full of more downs than ups and sometimes he let it g

Her bags were packed and she was so excited to be doing an intern ship with the FBI. They were the FBI for gods sake! Who couldn't be excited for that? Piz that's who but Veronica wasn't going to let that get her down, he was trying to be supportive, he had even offered to drop her off at the airport. Checking her watched she grinned a toothy grin, only 45 minutes till she would be on a plane heading to Virginia. Wheeling her suitcase out into the kitchen she beamed, her father was making her breakfast, Piz would be there shortly – she convinced herself that she was happy with him, convinced being the operative word – and she was going to the FBI.

"Honey you got everything?" Keith asked, turning from the stove.

"Have I got everything? Dad I have a navy blue pant suit, a copy of silence of the lambs, y best Jody Foster impersonation. I am set!"

"What have I told you about basing reality off Silence of the Lambs?"

"Aw come on dad, you know if someone like Hannibal Lector came along I could solve the case" She said in her best southern drawl.

"If those are the kinds of people you'll be associating with I don't know if I want you going"

"Dad I'll be fine" The quick witted blonde said as she picked a bit of freshly cooked bacon off the plate.

"Off the bacon!" Keith said with a mock glare before kissing the top of her head proudly. "When is that male suitor of yours coming around?"

Just as he brought it up Piz walked through the door.

"So how does that work? You just think it and it happens?" Veronica quipped.

"It's a gift" Keith replied with a cheesy grin that was ever so familiar to Veronica.

"What are you guys talking about?" Piz asked stepping closer to Veronica.

"Oh top secret FBI business" She joked stepping onto her toes to kiss her boyfriend, though she really wanted to be kissing, someone else, quickly she pushed those impure thoughts to the back of her mind, something she had been doing more often than not these days and it was tiresome but necessary.

"Hey no kissing in from of the protective father!" Keith said jokingly but the two young adults quickly broke the kiss, both looking quite embarrassed.

"So 12 weeks? Gonna fly right?" Piz said as he grabbed Veronica's suitcase.

"Yeah it'll be over before you know it" veronica replied convincingly, even though over to her was in a different context. It was hard to continuously convince herself of something that she knew wasn't true in her heart. Following her boyfriend to the front door she paused and waited for her doting father who quickly followed, and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"Be good okay and make friends"

"Make friends? Lok at this face, this is the face of a popular girl" As she said that she smiled and batted her eyelashes accordingly.

"Is that why you so many enemies?" Piz chimed in, opening the front door for her.

"That's always what a father likes to hear, that his daughter has enemies" He said with a concerned look.

"Both of you be quiet" She sharply replied with a fake expression of insult on her face and headed out the door.

"See you in 12 weeks darling" He called out to her; his one and only daughter.

It was about fifteen hours after they had said their goodbyes and an emotional departure from the airport then followed a long flight. A flight in which Veronica finding herself thinking about things she would rather not consider but they were there in her mind none the less. It was a flight that she wished had gone a lot quicker because when those particular thoughts were brought to the forefront of her mind she found herself at a loss of what to do and she probably knew what the right things was to do in the current situation but she was too strong willed to admit to having made a poor decision in who she really should have been dating. She tried to distract herself with various in flight movies, the newspaper, the anticipation of working in the FBI, solving cases, well she wished she'd be solving cases but still the distracting dramas of her love life overruled the priorities of her mind. Eventually and painstakingly slow the flight was over and she was in Virginia, ready to start the twelve weeks that would shape her in some way.

In the meantime one Logan Echolls was sitting in is bedroom of his penthouse suite at the Neptune Grand looking at an empty suitcase. A suitcase that he had yet to pack because for once he was battling with a normally absent concious on whether or not to follow Veronica to Virginia. He knew she would probably be mad and unreasonable with a surprise visit and he wondered why that was stopping him because it never had in the past. The main thing he was risking was ruining their relationship any further, it was already only held together with a thread and he had appealed to her in person about fixing it and she was unable to give him a definite answer as to when they may be friends again. Logan quickly realised that, that wasn't enough for him, he wasn't going to wait around for twelve weeks just to hear Veronica's verdict on the matter but he didn't know if travelling across the country to see her and try and start up something that he was sure was not over was the right way to go about things. This was an action that would shape a lot of things and it wasn't something to think so hastily about, or so he thought.

"Dude where are you going?" The ever insightful Dick Casablancas said, standing in the doorway of the room.

"Virginia maybe" Logan said not revealing any of the other details of his trip.

"There aren't any beaches in Virginia, you know that right?"

"Wow Dick how do you even know where Virginia is?" Logan quipped dryly.

"My Grandma lives in Virginia okay. So if there are no beaches, there are no waves, therefore there is no surf trip" He paused, an expression on his face of deep concentration and then one of his eyebrows arched upwards and he grinned. "Are you going to hook up with a girl? I knew it wouldn't take you long to get over Parker, I mean yeah she was hot but you can do better"

Logan looked up from his empty suitcase to his best friend, smirking at the fact that Dick had not changed a single bit in the time he had known him and he was confident that he never would.

"As a matter of fact I am going to see a girl" He revealed.

"Who is she? Someone you met on myspace?"

"If you must know it's Veronica" As soon as that particular name was uttered Dick immediately looked shocked.

"Veronica?! Isn't she dating some guy? Pez or whatever, the dude with the crap radio show, he doesn't even play any good musoc"

"You are on a roll today my friend. Right again. She does have a boyfriend"

"Look I'm not a guy who cares about this kind of thing but uh didn't you guys break up like a zillion times? Couldn't you date someone better?"

"We did break up but a concept you won't understand is love for one person that doesn't go away. No matter how much beer you drink"

"Whatever dude, your funeral. I'm gonna go find some chick who will appreciate Dick" He said whilst sticking his thumbs up and walking backwards out of the room.

The profound conversation that he had just partaken in had been the deal breaker in deciding whether he was going to Virginia or not. And he was. It wasn't like him to act on many thoughts, instead he acted on impulse, it was what Logan did best and he wasn't going to stray from that too soon. This was a mission he wasn't going to fail at even if he did expect to get shot down in the process. It was so abundantly clear to him now that the one thing in his life he needed was a short blonde with an inquisitive nature that drove him completely insane. Even though she frustrated him so much with her snooping nature and her lack of trust towards him he wouldn't change that about her because those little things made up who Veronica Mars was and he loved her. He was going to put everything on the line for her and try and make her remember what it was they used to have, if she'd forgotten and he hoped she hadn't. Logan had even decided that he wasn't go with a suitcase instead he was just going to wear the clothes off his back, he didn't need things weighing him down on this mission. The first thing he needed to do though was book a flight, grabbing his credit card he made the call to the airport. Things were in motion now.

Across the country in Virginia Veronica Mars had settled into the hotel room, courtesy of the FBI and was now heading off to HQ. She had all these visions in her mind of how it would go and she doubted any of them would be anywhere near as exciting as what she was currently imagining, sure she would have loved to be apart of the team, helping them solve important cases that mattered, cases that were legal investigations but she knew the reality was that she'd probably be fetching coffee and doing peoples busy work. A girl could dream and she was going to continue to do so until someone shattered them. Upon arriving at the FBI building the blonde took a moment to just take in her surroundings, marvelling at the stature the building had and how important it was, she was standing in a place that she had been so intent on going to for so long and she still couldn't quite believe that she was actually there. She was really going to step away from her PI roots to do something on a grander scale, or at least see people working on a larger scale of importance. Not that she didn't love her super sleuth ways, she probably had more experience in the field than most rookies entering the academy but it didn't count for the pride you would feel if you mentioned to someone that you were an FBI agent.

Walking towards the reception desk after revelling in the beauty of the building she decided it was about time she went to what would be her new place of work for the next twelve weeks. A young brunette woman was manning the reception desk and she looked up as soon as she saw Veronica approaching, she looked as though she had something wedged tightly up her posterior, she looked as though she was going to take names without even having to be asked.

"Um where can I find the cannibalistic serial killers?" Veronica asked with a smile but the receptionist did not bare an expression that resembled any nature of being impressed or amused by the remark.

"Just a Silence of the Lambs joke, you know a little nervous...Okay so you haven't seen it, I'm Veronica Mars. I'm here for the internship"

The receptionist didn't even respond she merely looked down and typed a few things before handing her an official identity badge.

"Floor 4 and the first conference room to your left" She said with a very sour tone.

"Don't smile too hard" She said as she clipped her ID tag to her blazer, okay so it may not have been the best start and her father had said not to make enemies but the receptionist made no effort to be welcoming so really she was asking for it.

Taking a deep breath she headed to the elevator, stepping inside she offered an uneasy smile to those already in the elevator. She wasn't sure what their position in the bureau was and they remained quiet for about thirty seconds before two of the agents began speaking about something. Unable to turn off what had turn into instinctive skills to listen she noticed that this was an important conversation and she wanted to know more.

"This case seems pretty important, the chief was really annoyed when he got the call about the next victim this morning"

"Yeah I know, I had to pull an all nighter because he had me sifting through all the case files looking for a detail we may have missed"

"It's the first huge serial crime to have occurred in a while, in America at least. I have to admit it's good to break away from the government investigations for a while"

"Are you actually suggesting you're glad three people have already been char grilled?"

"When you say it like that it sounds horrible, but this is the stuff I signed up to the FBI for you know? Making a big difference to people who have lost someone" Veronica was listening intently, they had captivated her to say the least but then a familiar chime of the elevator rung and they got off at the floor which so happened to be her floor.

Following them down the hall she entered the conference room after them, now she was hoping she was working on this mysterious case. The room was full of various suited agents sitting around a board table, one surly looking man was at the front writing on a white board, numerous images were pinned around the room. Maps, images of the victims, details about them and what she assumed were the corpses. Veronica had to look away, they were quite graphic and she wasn't used to seeing that kind of thing. The surly man approached Veronica and looked her up and down.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Veronica Mars, the intern...I was told to come here"

"Ah Miss Mars, you came highly recommended and your paper was outstanding. I'm chief Commissioner Bart Davis and You'll be shadowing one of our agents for the next twelve weeks, his name is Arthur Sandleson, the blonde man sitting in the corner. For this meeting just sit and take notes"

Veronica looked around the room and found Arthur, smiling at him she went and took the empty seat besides him and pulled out her note pad and began taking notes. This was definitely not what she had expected, to be involved on a higher profile case, it seemed risky but maybe they thought she had a lot of promise or Arthur had just made a huge break in his career and the bureau hadn't anticipated it.

"By now most of you have probably been briefed on the case that is being coined by the media as the next unstoppable serial arsonist. Not only has our perpetrator killed three victims but has also made attacks on numerous residences. So far the murders and attacks have been localised to California and parts of Nevada. I know this is a long way from home for us but we've been asked by head office because of our speciality in this field"

As soon as California had been mentioned it had peaked Veronica's interest, this case was closer to home and she really hoped she would be involved in some way. Commissioner Davis debriefed everyone and went through the Intel they currently had, she had listened so carefully and taken as many notes as possible, she wanted to be an asset to the team even if she was only going to be working there for 12 weeks. The meeting was adjourned and she followed Arthur to his cubical, he hadn't said much but he looked like a serious kind of guy and she hoped he would be someone good to learn from. Finally he turned to her and began to speak.

"Look, you're cute and all and probably smart but this is no case for you to be involved with-"

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Veronica quickly interjected.

"Don't interrupt me, you're just a college kid and I don't want to ruining what could be the chance I have to climb the ranks. Why don't you just sit over there and sort through my paper work"

This had been the kind of thing she dreaded and if she wanted to stick around she probably would have done the usual Veronica Mars thing and made his life a living hell but this was a new world and her same tricks probably wouldn't work her, she sighed and went and reluctantly sat at the desk, sorting through his paperwork. Arthur was a jerk and a jock, it seemed as though she'd never truly leave high school behind. The thing was, not only was this a big case but it was centred in her home state, this arsonist could really hurt someone she loved and naturally she was determined to solve this. Albeit this was a lot bigger than her previous cases but she knew it was time for a challenge. After all she had solved Lilly's murder case, Dean O'Dell's murder case, Felix's murder case and the bus crash. She could handle this.

It had been a long day of sifting through Arthur's sloppy excuse for paperwork, she had finally returned to her hotel room and her mind was on one thing. She was going to see how hard cracking the FBI's security was, though that being said she had already snooped Arthur's desk for clues on his password while he was at lunch, and monitored his keystrokes using her eyes and she had a list of possible combinations if that didn't work she'd call Mac and see if she could hack it, though this was a whole new playing field so this could be harder. Grabbing her laptop out of her suitcase she went to the FBI database and began to try numerous combinations of passwords but none of them seemed to be working, she wasn't going to admit defeat but before she could use her other resources she found that her phone was ringing. Grabbing her phone she noticed that it was Piz and immediately answered.

"Hey, I was just going to call you" No she wasn't but he wouldn't know that

"Good to know, I wasn't sure if you'd be home yet but I couldn't wait, I already miss you"

"Yeah? I miss you too"

"So how did the first day go, I know you probably can't speak about whatever it is you're doing because of super secret FBI confidentiality but I'm sure you can tell me how awesome it is" She could hear that he was really trying to make this go smoothly for her and that made her smile.

"Aside from the fact I am working with the super secret FBI it's going alright, I got stuck with this obnoxious jerk who won't let me help on the case and apparently all I'm good for is doing the paperwork he hasn't done"

"Oh really? And Veronica Mars didn't give him lip? Have you changed?" He said with a slight chuckle.

"Well this is a bigger environment, I have a feeling that if I mouthed off at him I'd get into trouble for once" As she spoke to Piz she was quickly interrupted yet again by a knock at her door. She didn't recall ordering any room service so she was curious, getting up from her bed she walked to the door and opened it. "Hey Piz something important just came up, I'll call you back. Miss you" Without waiting for him to reply she hung up because who stood on the other side of the door was someone she hadn't expected to see.

"Surprise" Logan said with a boyish grin.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Is all Veronica was able to mutter at the sight of her ex boyfriend.

Logan's smile remained but he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the reaction he received. Somehow he thought there may have been a little bit of happiness in her eyes but all he could see was frustration and shock. This wasn't going to deter him though because he had given himself a goal and he liked to achieve them with the right outcome. He wasn't backing down from this fight and he knew that it was going to be exactly that, a fight. Veronica wasn't the type of person to just take him back so easily and he recognised this he would just have to remind her why she loved him and why she didn't belong with Piz. It wasn't some kind of interstate pissing contest between the two he honestly felt that she and him were destined to be together, it was nothing against Piz but he wasn't right for her.

"Well you see I decided to take a trip and it just so happened that this was the only hotel that had rooms still available" Logan finally said, his grin remaining on his face, a grin that Veronica had seen so much of.

The small blonde just rolled her eyes knowing that this was no coincidence, he had intended for this to happen and she didn't like it. This was throwing everything out of whack, how was she meant to get over him if he was just staying in the same hotel as her, this was going to make things so much harder to deal with and she knew that this is what he had intended for.

"A likely story Logan, you can't be here" She said stepping closer to the door to prevent him from coming into her room. That was the last thing she needed.

"Last time I checked I'm allowed to stay in a hotel" He had brought his A game for this round.

"You can't stay in THIS hotel. What part of 'when I come back I'll rethink our friendship' did you not understand?"

"Oh I understood that loud and clear and then I realised I'm the unreformed bad boy and bad boys don't follow the rules. So I'm not following the rules"

"Why are you even here?" Veronica was becoming frustrated and it was showing.

"I thought that part was clear, I'm here for you" His grin was growing wider the kind of smug grin that she had also become quite familiar with.

"Nuh-uh Logan, no no NO I have a boyfriend and I'm happy with him, you can't be here go!" She needed to get him out of her room and our of this state right away before everything she had been trying to repress escaped and she wasn't about to let that happen.

"I'll go, you don't have to call security but this isn't the last you'll be seeing of me" That was the last thing he said before he turned and walked down the hall. Veronica immediately closed the door and leaned against it sighing heavily. She already had a lot on her plate and the last thing she needed was for Logan to be popping up every now and then, making her heart flutter. She had to focus her thoughts on the case and find out what was going on, she had to focus on reminding herself that Piz was the right guy for her she had to do all these things plus avoid Logan.

Stepping away from the door she went and slumped on her bed and grabbed her phone, she needed to speak to someone about this and she couldn't speak to Piz nor could she speak to her father, Mac was on some trip with her family and all that was left was Wallace and he was the one who in the first place told her not to start something with Piz if it involved him getting his heart broken. What was a girl to do? Most people would naturally say the right thing but the problem with that was Veronica had no clue what the right thing to do was. She knew for sanity purposes that staying with Piz was the best, they could be happy or at least content or at the very least normal. That would be better than most loveless marriages she justified at least one person in the relationship would be in love even if it wasn't her. Maybe that was what love was, just settling for the most practical thing, that was what she was trying to convince herself of that and maybe there was a chance she would maybe love Piz. It wasn't as though they had been seeing each other for all that long, there was always that chance.

It was all well and good to tell herself these things but the fact of the matter was she knew that she had feelings for Logan, and she knew that with him there was passion, there was love that they could both confidently say they felt but it was the fights, the history, the lies and deceit that really crept between them and made things impossible. Pressing the dial button she rung Wallace, hoping that he would be able to offer her some advice.

"Veronica? You do realise that this isn't Piz's number, I mean we share a room but we don't share a phone"

"Ah my dear Wallace how refreshing it is to hear your voice"

"Yo, we only spoke yesterday...wait what's going on?"

"What makes you think something is going on? Can't a girl just call her best friend?"

"In all the years we've known each other you have never called me just to 'talk'. So what's going on?" Wallace could hear her sigh on the other line.

"Logan is here"

"You invited Logan to Virginia?"

"No he showed up unannounced and said he's going to win me back. By the way don't mention any of this to Piz"

"Veronica doesn't Piz have the right to know your ex is makin a move on you?"

"If you tell him it will only make things, it's not like I'm going to go running back to Logan. He just doesn't need to know"

"I told you not to tear his heart apart, you're going to tear it apart" Wallace said becoming a little more aggressive.

"No I'm not! I just wanted someone to talk to and apparently I can't even talk to you. Cya Fennell" She said quite annoyed as she hung up.

Why was everyone so concerned about Piz? They were her friends why couldn't they be concerned with her crisis which involved being in love with a person who was a different person to who she was dating. She needed a sounding board to get all these frustrations, she needed someone to tell her what to do without any objectivity, just someone completely unbiased. However she didn't have those kinds of people in her life so she was under the belief that she was going to have to make this decision herself and her plan of action was just going to be avoiding it for as long as she possibly could. Curling up into her bed she looked at her laptop one last time before closing it and decided that maybe in the morning with a clear head she would be able to think about this more logically. There was no possible way to come out of this situation without hurting someone but she was going to try.

In the morning though a clear head is not what she woke up with, instead she woke up with only two hours sleep. Rather than sleeping like she had planned she had tossed and turned all night with thoughts invading her mind. The knowledge of Logan sleeping in the same hotel as her was unnerving and only brought about thoughts that weren't meant to be thought by someone in a happy relatioship. She should have been dreaming of her and Piz doing something romantic or the case at the FBI but no she had been thinking about what things had been like with Logan and the resulting thoughts were not very promising for her sanity. Rolling over she looked at the alarm clock and groaned she was late, and Arthur or someone else would probably point this factor out.

She managed to rush to the agency and was relatively on time surprisingly, she had geared herself up for a hard days work and maybe the chance of accessing Arthur's computer and if she could do that then she believed she may be an asset to the case. She knew things that most people her age didn't and this case was too close to home for comfort, this wasn't business she could keep her nose out of. Walking through the entrance she bypassed the sour receptionist and went straight upstairs and Arthur was promptly waiting for her and he looked quite dissatisfied with her. The last thing she needed to deal with his attitude.

"You're late" He said with a smug smirk on his face.

"I am? Sorry" 'That you may have had to start the paperwork yourself' She thought to herself but refrained from saying it out loud.

"You'll never make it in the FBI if you can't even be punctual, you do know what that means right?"

"Punctual? Could you use it in a sentence please?" She said mockingly "P-U-N-C-T-U-A-L Punctual" Still imitating a spelling bee she rolled her eyes and set her things down at the temporary cubicle that had been set up for her.

"Don't take that attitude with me, I'm your superior" He said becoming frustrated with her.

Veronica was having trouble keeping her natural bitchy attitude below the surface, it was a combination of her lack of sleep, his crappy attitude and her current romantic predicament that was going to have her snapping any minute and lashing out at him. Luckily she still possessed a small ounce of self restraint. "A superior pain in the ass" She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said I'm sorry and what do you want me to do today?" She covered with a disgustingly sweet smile.

"Hmph, you can finish the remainder of my paper work then you can come with me to the afternoon debrief and then you can file my paperwork" He said in a cocky tone as though he knew he was better than her.

Veronica didn't think Arthur was the brightest bulb in the box so she didn't understand how he made it into the FBI, he probably had family ties within the bureau at least she hoped so, because if this is what the FBI would be like if she joined she didn't want to be apart of it. In all her frustration she bit her tongue and held back the snarky reply that she had instinctively lined up. Sitting down at the make shift cubical she began sifting through his disorganised messy paperwork, it was okay because Veronica had a few tricks up her sleeve and she wasn't going to let Arthur make her experience at the FBI a bad memory. As soon as she saw her opening, Arthur had gotten up to go do some FBI jock business and she was on the prowl. It was an old trick but it hadn't failed her before but then again she hadn't been applying this old trick to a government agency. She realised the risks that she was taking but if she was going to find out any information at all she'd have to take them. Taking off one of her customised earrings, it had a small camera embedded into it she placed it discretely into Arthur's lamp which she conveniently situated over his keyboard.

Being as quick as possible she sat back down at her desk and started with her busy work, watching carefully as Arthur returned to see if he noticed her bit of spy work. The blonde hoped not because she had a feeling that this wouldn't be like spy vs spy and he wasn't going to chase her around and get into all sorts of humorous antics. Lucky for her he didn't, he began doing whatever it is he had the brain power to do, probably looking at videos on youtube rather than investigating the case itself. That was okay because she planned on doing enough investigating for the both of them. Even if she managed to solve this case and he got the recognition for it she'd be okay with it because she'd always know that Arthur was too dumb to do such a thing.

Around midday Arthur had announced that he was going to lunch and Veronica was to remain behind and catch up what seemed to be a never-ending supply of paperwork. That was fine with her because it gave her the opportunity to remove the camera she had planted which is exactly what she did. She placed the customised earring back in her ear and decided she deserved a well earned break. Heading downstairs she was about to leave the building to go explore the area when she noticed an unwelcome guest waiting in the lobby. She wondered why the FBI would let a less than law abiding citizen remain in their building. Naturally Logan stood up and walked towards Veronica, he was right when he said she was going to be seeing him again. Veronica didn't like this one bit, it was bad enough he had invaded her living arrangements but now he was invading her workplace, she did not need this.

"Logan get out of here!" She whispered harshly.

His plan of action was to remain as charming for as long as he possibly could and he knew he could do that for quite some time. "I just thought you would like to go to lunch"

"I do want to go to lunch but not with you" She hissed, it was really hard for her to just bottle up her emotions with him, so much had happened that she couldn't ignore but she wanted to ignore it because otherwise Piz was going to end up hurt and in that process she hurt her best friend as well.

"Come on, play nice. We'll just go get a coffee, nothing dishonest or questionable I promise" He continued with his faux innocent act that he knew she liked.

"Logan nothing is not questionable or dishonest with you. I have a boyfriend. How many times do I need to spell this out for you?"

"Veronica I know you have a boyfriend but I also told you I'm getting you back" This is when he changed his expression for the first time since he arrived in Virginia. He was serious Veronica could see this and she needed to do everything in her ability to stop these run ins.

"Please don't do this. I don't need this right now" She said feeling a little vulnerable, managing to muster up the strength she walked past him and out of the building. She needed to get her mind off him, finding a small café that was nearby she opened her laptop to investigate her findings.

Inside the building she was not allowed to use her own laptop for obvious security reasons but outside of the building she was free to do whatever she liked and whatever she liked entailed viewing a video of Arthur typing in his password. The entire time she watched the video she kept thinking to herself that this wasn't going to work, this was the FBI and some little rookie PI move wasn't going to work but to her surprise it did and it only proved that Arthur was stupid. His password was KingArthurt83, Veronica could have probably guessed that if she thought he was 18. Now she was questioning the FBI's selection process but she thanked it as well because her video footage had gotten her a password and now she was going to be able to log onto his computer to get all the information she needed.

When she returned to the office she found that Arthur was punishing her further by not letting her attend the afternoon debriefing it pissed her off and she was sure he didn't have jurisdiction to do that she managed to calm herself down because it made her realise that this would give her the perfect opportunity to get onto his computer and copy all the files across to her usb drive. When the coast was clear she snuck around to his computer, the offices were practically deserted, it seemed everyone was involved in the case except her but that was about to change. Sure enough the password worked and she was in, the first thing that caught her eye had nothing to do with the case but it was a curious looking email from what appeared to be Arthur's uncle who also appeared to be on the board of the directors at the FBI. That made a lot of sense and also made Veronica feel as though nothing had changed since high school.

The meeting was over and she'd been quick in getting the stuff she needed, Arthur hadn't even suspected a thing but as she was leaving she made reference to him being King Arthur and she had a feeling that it had struck a nerve with him. She wasn't going to let him win so easily she was going to work the case on her own and this may not have been the same as her vsing Sheriff Lamb but she knew what she was capable of and she figured that she could handle this. At least that's what she told herself so she wouldn't back down. Walking into the lobby of her hotel she was faced again with what seemed like was going to be a repeating thing in her stay here. She walked right past Logan, ignoring him completely even though that was extremely hard. Her heart beating the way it was wasn't hurting and then the guilt set in because she hadn't called Piz yet and she had to apologise about last night but she had no clue what she was going to do.

"Not even going to say hello?" Logan said as he promptly followed her.

"Why Logan? You're here to ruin a good thing, why should I talk to you?" She said curtly as she got in the elevator, making no effort to hold the doors.

"You should talk to me because you love me and I love you" He said making it into the elevator.

"It isn't that simple! None of this is simple and it's never going to be! Things with Piz are simple and easy I don't have to worry!" She said becoming frustrated with what he was saying and how right he was.

"That's not love though is it? I worry because I care! We fight because we care! We belong together doesn't that mean something to you!?" Veronica got off at the next floor, she couldn't handle this.

"Don't follow me Logan, stop following me! I don't love you any more!" She said as she turned her back and walked away, she said it but it wasn't true.

Logan knew it wasn't true but it didn't make it hurt any less. Hearing those words from the woman you loved even if they were a lie didn't change the fact it still felt like a tonne of bricks hitting his chest. This wasn't going to deter him though this was the first of many blows he felt he was going to take in order to get her back.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys sorry for the late update, anyway hopefully this will make up for the time. I'll try and get the next chapter out a little quicker.

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As soon as she made it back to her room it was all down hill from there. Barely even making it through the door Veronica collapsed onto her bed and burred her face in her pillow, fighting to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall, she was so emotionally strained that the encounter that had just occurred had amplified everything that was currently going wrong for her by ten. She had completely lied through her teeth to Logan about her not loving him and it had hurt her a lot to say those things but she couldn't get into something with him and she really wanted for that decision to sit well with her but it wasn't. She couldn't escape him long enough to recover from the previous blow and maybe that was his strategy to completely break down her resolve and if that was his plan, it was definitely working. What Veronica couldn't stand the most was that she was letting him win and all because her feelings were getting the better of her. She couldn't even muster any sort of strength to fight back because for the most part she wanted him to win yet somewhere part of her was making painful decisions to push him away and she told herself that it was the right thing to do.

Veronica's moral high ground was where she was currently stuck and she was determined not to fall but the ground was growing smaller as each day passed, she only had 11 more weeks in Virginia to get through and she was pretty sure she could make it, but the lack of confidence was unnerving her. The blonde had sussed out the hotel and figured if she went out the back way, took the stairs every day not only would she be fit but she'd also avoid Logan and be safe to spend the rest of her life with Piz. The only reason she thought that was because she was confident that the only way to avoid breaking his heart was to marry him and have some kind of wysteria lane like marriage to him in which she would make his dinner and then every night before bed wish she was dead, that was happiness right? Just as her mind was racing over the many ways she could avoid her ex lover her phone started ringing and before she even picked up she knew it was Piz, usually she tried and mustered some form of a smile for him but today she couldn't. Pressing the phone to her ear she answered with a sweet polite 'Hello', she hoped he wouldn't be able to tell something was up.

"Hey, you never called back, something happen?" Piz asked, she should have realised that question was coming.

"Yeah sorry I've just been busy with the whole FBI deal, last night someone ordered room service for me but it was for the wrong room. I ended up getting in a fight with the bell boy" She explained though a clever lie. She heard Piz let out a chuckle and she felt relieved that he had believed her.

"As long as you didn't taze him then I'm sure you ended up with free food"

Normally she would have made some quick witted response but she was just frustrated this time, why was it that everyone thought she would detain someone for looking at her the wrong way, she wasn't some heartless bitch who had to get revenge on everyone that so much as made a mistake in regards to her. Sure Veronica had her share of run ins in her life and she had gotten pay back but only on people who deserved it.

"Veronica? You still there?" Rolling her eyes at the sound of Piz's question, he was always so needy and she knew she shouldn't have been thinking that way about him but she wasn't in the mood, she never was but she kept the act up for so many reasons.

"Why is it you always think I'm going to beat someone up?" She snapped lightly, she didn't know where this was coming from and either did he.

"Hey, I was just making a joke. You're a good person you don't hurt everyone who comes in contact with you" He said trying to defend himself in a rational way.

"Everyone is always making a joke, everything is just a big joke with you isn't it? Do you even take me seriously?" She was really letting him have it and the worst part was she knew he didn't deserve it and she couldn't think why she was acting this way.

"Veronica of course I take you seriously, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Picking a fight, what's wrong? You're never like this"

"How would you know what I'm like any way? We haven't even known each other for long or dated for long either!" At this point it was just easier for Veronica to keep going rather than stop, it was like some crazy hostile vent.

"Jeeze I'm sorry for not knowing you as long as some people, but I'm trying Veronica, where is all this coming from? What is this about? Is this about Logan?" He said it, the one word that was all Veronica needed and she was going to let him have it.

"Logan!? What has he got to do with anything? This is about me and you not him!"

"Come on, he's always hanging around you! He beat that guy up for you! If I can see it then I'm sure you can too" Piz was finally getting angry a side she hadn't seen of him before and a side he rarely expressed.

"See what Piz? Oh insightful Piz what is it that I have been so blind to?" Veronica said her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"He is still in love with you!" If he could see it then she definitely could, and the fact that he knew wasn't very reassuring for her.

"I can't speak to you right now, don't call me, I'll call you when I'm ready" She said quietly, feeling very uneasy.

"Veronica, I'm sorry I just...look please-"

"No Piz, don't call me, I'll call you when I'm ready. Bye" She hung up and just stared at the wall, that was some phone call and a few things were realised that she didn't really want to realise.

If Piz was aware that Logan still had feelings for her then she knew she was treading in dangerous waters, especially if he was staying in the same hotel as her and he kept trying to speak to her. She knew he still loved her, and she just hoped that she was better at making that less obvious than him because if her boyfriend could see it then she was basically screwed and not the good kind. Then there was that unnecessary fight she had forced upon the usually pacifistic Piz for a reason that was very unfortunate. Veronica had hoped in some way if they had fought she would be able to find a reason to break up with him so she wouldn't look like the bad guy but if anything it turned out with her looking like the bad guy and now she was more upset than before the call and that really wasn't how she had wanted things to turn out. Sighing she pulled her laptop out of her bag and turned on the screen, now the last thing she had wanted to see was her wallpaper which was a picture of her and Piz, the traditional normal things most couples do to show their love of each other. Another thing to really mask her true feelings because not many people know that she still had a folder on her machine of very intimate moments she had shared with Logan, she had never been able to delete it.

Quickly opening the folder of newly obtained documents she began browsing through and deleting the ones she didn't need, it appeared quite obviously that Arthur had no concept of proper file naming conventions or how to organise things. After she'd been able to distinguish between work and play she finally had a folder that contained everything she needed to begin her own little investigation. Of course Veronica was going to try and let the FBI on this, she wasn't sure yet if she would be able to handle a case of this magnitude on her own. First thing was first she needed to look at all the victims and see if she could create any common links between them. The beginning wasn't so complex compared to other cases she had solved but Veronica wasn't about to underestimate this, most of her cases had only involved one victim or petty crimes but this one was big so she had to be thorough and it wasn't as though she had her trusty sheriff father there to bail her out. What she was already doing was fairly illegal but she knew she'd be able to cover it up or blackmail someone in order to present this information to someone who could use it wisely. Arthur was not that person. As she looked through the various photos, some quite horrifying she realised that the only common thread she could find were they had all been tied up, by the feet and hands with something more durable than rope and all were stripped to their underwear.

Veronica may have been young but one thing she wasn't was naïve, after finding these commonalities she went straight to the autopsy report filed by the coroner then the case reports and they'd already been found and noted. She needed to understand more about this crime and she was going to as long as no further distractions proved to interfere with this. This is why she was in Virginia, not to dwell on her boy dramas, she wanted to do something important. That was all going fine, she was delving into other arson cases the FBI had suspected the perpetrator had also been involved in, the crime scenes of the three victims had been processed and the common ingredient in the fires was an unusual mixture of potassium and water which according to a report when mixed causes a flammable hydrogen gas, now Veronica was no scientist but she knew that when things were flammable all they needed to do to go boom was to be lit, and it looked like he had lit this concoction intentionally. She had been working fairly hard, taking notes and studying various aspects, trying to familiarise herself with the case before the next debriefing tomorrow after noon when a little box flashed on her screen.

Veronica had inadvertently left her internet connection and someone had seen that she was online, she thought about just ignoring whoever it was but she saw the screen name she hesitated. It was Mac, her closest female friend and she hadn't spoken to her in such a long time and she had wanted to speak to her but she wasn't sure if now was the time but she couldn't just ignore her.

**iMac:** Hey

**VMars**: Hey, back from the family trip so soon?

**iMac:** Yeah, how's the FBI going?

**VMars**: Alright, if you take into account the guy who I'm stuck with, he's such a loser I don't even get to be properly involved in the investigation I had to get involved the old Veronica way.

**iMac**: lol nothing gets in your way does it?

**VMars**: Not yet it hasn't

**iMac**: Hey...uh Veronica is everything okay?

**VMars**: Uh yeah why wouldn't it be?

**iMac**: Well it's just that as I was going back to my dorm I was intercepted by Wallace who said he'd spoken to you and then he said when he got back from practice Piz was in his room playing something 'dark and gloomy' on his guitar, you don't know anything about that do you?

**VMars**: ugh this is so not how I expected everything to turn out...look a lot has been going on and I tried speaking to Wallace for support but I got nothing

**iMac**: What's going on? I mean you can usually handle anything

**VMars**: The funny thing about that is I can handle anything as long as Logan isn't concerned

**iMac**: What has he got to do with any of this? Wait has he been calling you?

**VMars**: Worse he is in Virginia, even better staying at my hotel

**iMac**: wait...what!?

**VMars**: Yup Logan Echolls decided he wanted to confess his undying love for me by showing up in Virginia

**iMac**: That's pretty romantic...you know for him

**VMars**: I guess except I have a boyfriend...

**iMac**: That you're happy with...right?

**iMac**: Veronica the silence isn't very convincing

**VMars**: Yeah yeah I'm happy with Piz

**iMac**: I know I can't hear you through the computer but what you're typing isn't convincing me

**VMars**: listen it's hard to get past something like I what Logan and I had and I'm trying, Piz is a nice guy but is he really the right guy for me?

**iMac**: You're asking me this? I haven't exactly had the best luck with guys if you can recall

**iMac**: idk Veronica this is something you have to decide but Piz is a nice guy but if you don't love him maybe you shouldn't be with him. Don't take my word for it, it's not like I'm an expert this doesn't exactly involve computers but think about it. Anyway I g2g, need to be up early, ttyl?

**VMars**: All I've been doing is thinking, yeah I'll speak to you soon, cya.

After Mac had signed off she yet again found herself unable to work, shutting her laptop feeling defeated she placed it back in her back and laid down, clutching the pillow that laid besides her. She didn't want to have to think about this kind of thing any longer, she wanted someone to make the decision for her and she wanted it to end happily without any broken hearts. What this girl wanted was a fairytale and the worst part was she knew that she wasn't going to get it. Tossing and turning the entire night she didn't even get any sleep, she got out of bed and went straight for the shower ignoring the mirror because Veronica knew that what she would see would be unpleasant bags under her eyes maybe this was just preparation for the rest of her life because with how things were going she was looking forward to a sleep deprived life. After her shower and an espresso, she had gotten herself to the office, bypassed most of Arthur's belittling comments knowing she had probably done more work on the case than he could have done in five years. She was able to make it through to lunch and by the stage she was in dire need of food, with her mind set on one thing she headed downstairs and ready to go to a nearby café when Logan decided he would stop by again.

"Jesus christ, what is with you? Did you not get the message last night?" She snapped and continued walking, not really wanting to cause a scene in the lobby of the FBI building. She was worried she may get the reputation of being that dramatic girl with the constant relationship troubles.

As predictable as Logan sometimes was he followed her out into the street, which wasn't a much better fighting ground but at least it was less humiliating in some ways because now they wouldn't be fighting in front of who could eventually be her colleagues.

"The message? Oh the one where you said you didn't love me? Yeah I got that but I didn't believe it, you know why?"

"Why? Please tell me" She was so fed up, there was no escaping this situation and soon she was going to implode but she was convinced she was doing this for the right reasons. Those reasons she was quickly forgetting every time he came around.

"It's not true, and you know it!" He said confidently as he reached for her hand, pulling her into him, holding her close. Logan pierced her with his eyes and in that moment Veronica was scared.

She was scared because she could feel her will slipping away in his arms but she was Veronica, naturally she resisted anyway. Pushing him away she felt him trying to resist and she just pushed harder. "Logan let go of me, you're meddling in my love life and you're ruining everything!" She confessed as she was finally able to break free of his grip.

"I'm ruining everything? You ever stopped to consider that it's you because you're not with the right person" He said quietly not wanting to draw attention to himself, which was unlike Logan but the last thing he needed was the FBI jumping him in the middle of the street.

"Whatever Logan" She said storming past him, her appetite completely ruined. Heading back to the building up to the debriefing that was soon to begin she found Arthur, the last person she wanted to speak to but she needed to speak to him. She was going to get through this day and sleep at the end of the night even if it meant having to get a lobotomy in order to do so.

"Arthur, can I speak to you for a minute?" Veronica said approaching her lets say tour guide.

"Excuse me? You must refer to me as sir, and what would you have to speak to me about?" He said with a straight face, the thing that surprised Veronica most was that he wasn't putting on act, this was actually how he was.

Trying to get past his horrible horrible exterior she persevered through the conversation so she could speak. "What I wanted to speak to you about was that I have some information that I thought may interest you in the case"

"You have information? How have got information, all you do is my paper work" He said with a slight chortle at the end.

"Yes and that you're fault" She mumbled before trying to get to the heart what she was offering him. "I have information from paying attention to things together, and I've got some theories and I thought maybe I could present them in the debriefing" She was hoping but she knew the chances were slim.

"Look here little girl, this isn't Kansas or wherever it is you crawled out from, this is the big real world and just because you won some internship here doesn't mean you know squat about the case, so take you're crazy theories and put them in the trash because that's where they belong" That's all Arthur had said before pushing past her and entering the de briefing.

During the meeting she had kept quiet, emotions boiling inside her, everything he had said to her had really hit a nerve and it was taking all her self control to prevent herself from choking him. Veronica needed a chance to speak to someone who would actually listen to her, she didn't know anyone but she was hopeful that there would be at least someone a little nicer within the bureau that she could learn from. As soon as she returned to her hotel room, she had rushed through the rest of the day to get this point she found a note slipped under her door. Picking it up she quickly recognised the handwriting and knew it was Logan. He had given her the details of his room just in case she wanted to talk, Veronica had no clue what to do and she felt tears slipping down her cheek. She had never been this overcome with emotions so quickly, sure she had endured some pretty trying times but this week, the beginning of what was supposed to be a good experience for her was crashing down on her and she couldn't handle it. Now fully crying she took a deep breath and without thinking glanced at the piece of paper in her hands before crumpling it in her hands. Opening her door she went to the room that was on the paper and knocked on the door. She wasn't sure what she was doing but one thing was clear she wasn't thinking with a rational head and all she was looking for was comfort.

Logan opened the door promptly and took Veronica in his arms immediately, he rested his head on the top of her head and gently rubbed her back. Veronica fell into his arms and let him hold her, her mind racing, she wanted to be somewhere she felt comfortable to let this pass.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for taking so long with the update guys. I've been reading your reviews and appreciate them greatly, I had previously been too busy with uni work to update now that I'm on holidays I'm going to try and update more frequently but I make no promises. What you have to look forward to in the future is a little more darkness, I've been reading a lot of morbid books lately (a clockwork orange, in cold blood, perfume, to name a few) and I want to write more from the killers perspective. Give Veronica Mars a little more of a serious feel. Oh and don't worry there will be more Logan and Veronica to come but things will definitely get interesting, it can't be a happy ending so soon.

PS. I know how long its been since I last update...just reading through previous chapters refreshing my memory of particular details lol So this is an update version with less plot holes I hope. Again I apologise, this is what I get for not updating regularly.

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She found herself getting lost in the moment, the comfortable feeling she felt within Logan's grip was one she didn't particularly want to escape, his scent, his warmth everything about him made her feel right at home. Naturally though reality got the best of her, Veronica was too self aware to continue to live this false moment. Logan knew it too, he knew that it was going to come crashing down all around so soon but he also knew he had a small victory and he had to be positive about that. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and looked up at the man she still very much loved, she slowly unwrapped his arms from around her and pulled away. There was no yelling this time and he didn't try and force her to stay it was all very quiet and civil, they both understood quite well what was going on and their didn't even need to be words spoken. Wiping any remaining tears from her eyes Veronica took a deep breath and nodded slightly before turning on her heal and heading towards the door. Logan remained standing where he was and watched her, so many times they had both been in this position and most of the time it was an extremely painful position. He had felt a tug if his heart when she let go but he knew that this was all progress.

"Logan, thanks..." It was all the blonde could get out before she had to escape the scene otherwise she knew that she would do far worse things than simply hug him.

"Any time" He whispered but she was already gone, he knew now the way he had to play was to be distant for a few days then sweep her off her feet. Like all the good romantics did.

Veronica wasn't looking at everything from such a positive perspective, what she had done she felt was the ultimate betrayal towards Piz and a betrayal towards her own set of morals. As soon as she returned to her room she raced to the shower, what she needed was a level head she was going to just through herself completely into the case despite what that jerk Arthur had said. As far as she was concerned the only reason he had a job was because of who he was related to. She knew she probably wouldn't solve the case herself but she sure as hell knew how to put together a puzzle and she was going to try to do the same thing here. The hot water cascaded over her body, it removed all the tension from her body and she forced the happenings of five minutes ago out of her mind. She had to get her wits about her and prepare herself for some messy situations she was going to throw herself into. Remaining in the shower for what seemed like hours rather than the actual twenty minutes she finally removed herself and got ready for bed. She made a conscious decision to turn her phone off and get a good nights sleep and that is exactly what she did.

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"So what's it going to be eh?" He said in a low snarl.

"Please, Please just let me go!" Young Charlotte Pallot had never done wrong to anyone or so she thought, she led a quiet life as the owner of a florists, she looked after her niece and nephew every week and donated to charity often. She had often believed she was a good person but here she was strapped to this chair in an abandoned warehouse in only her underwear. It had been two days since she'd been kidnapped and she just wanted to go home, this guy was a maniac.

"Let you go? Why on earth would I do a thing like that?" He said with a laugh remaining in the shadows. This would be his fifth victim, he felt he was getting particularly good at his craft especially considering the police don't even realise that his first two victims were...well his. He considered the others practice but this, this right here was the real thing. The women had to be of a particular age and they had to have that quality, he couldn't describe what it was but he knew it when he saw them. He had everything set up perfectly, his little home made grenades were placed carefully at the structural supports of the building but they were for later. He needed to have his fun right now.

"I won't press charges I promise" She was begging now, tears streaming down her cheeks, how ugly she looked to him right now.

"Don't cry it makes you look ugly" He said dancing about the room, the lovely thoughts of what he was going to do next making him feel giddy. The others he had tortured with knives for a bit, carelessly leaving particular signatures behind and then letting them burn to death but this time he was going to kill her before he let the fireworks go off. Gripping the scalpel in his left hand he moved out of the shadows and into the light, she looked away and continued to cry.

"Oh my darling, do not cry for it will all be over very shortly" She looked up, hoping to see a face but instead he was wearing a mask, a Donald duck mask, and she could see in his hand the knife and she screamed, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"You are a smart one too, so unfortunate that your smarts are not going to save you this time around" He laughed this time and skipped closer to her, bringing the scalpel to her cheek, gently running it down the side so he could let the blood flow. Her screams only excited him more, making him want her to do it again, so he did, he continued to cut down the side of her face and in fact the side of her entire body. Until he reached her hip, then he went back to the top and started again. Flaying the skin one stroke at a time.

Charlotte eventually passed out, or died, he didn't bother to check he was having his fun. Though eventually he grew bored and just decided to end it all, it was fun but the fireworks were his favourite part. Carefully he sliced along the exterior jugular and let the blood flow freely, her body twitching slightly as it quickly went limp. Dancing off he removed the pins of each of his home made grenades and ran a safe distance from the warehouse to watch it explode. This, this was what he considered his first real victim. This was number one.

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Veronica felt fresh and clear headed as she approached the FBI building, she was ready to hold a fake smile as she bowed down to Arthur's every whim, all the while knowing that when he wasn't looking she'd be finding out information for herself. However when she reached her floor she noticed something was a little off, there were barely any people around her 'mentor' included. Putting her things down on her desk she looked around for clues but found none. Seeing an agent at her desk she approached her, wondering if she could get a little information.

"Um, excuse me...I was just wondering if you could tell me where everyone is?" Veronica asked politely.

The agent whipped her head around, grabbing the last of her things, she looked like she was about to head out. "There was another body found, the same guy we think, the current investigation team is corresponding with the California agency to see what's going on. Some agents have even flown out there"

"Is Arthur there?" She asked, wondering if she could possibly get out on the scene.

"Probably, all field agents, forensics everyone is there...wait who are you?" She said looking at the young blonde suspiciously.

"Veronica Mars, I'm new here" She wasn't about to let loose that she was an intern, she wanted to see the action first hand.

"Well Miss Mars it's been nice speaking to you, but I am actually heading to the location now. What about you?"

"Oh yeah so am I, I'm just waiting for the next helicopter" She lied hoping she wouldn't get caught.

"There is one up there now, come on we'll go together. It will give us a chance to go over some of the finer details of the case.

During the flight, which made her somewhat nervous. She didn't think to mention that she had never flown in a helicopter report but her fellow agent was too preoccupied with discussing matters of the case with another agent that joined them. Thankfully they were both too busy to even ask her any question that may get her caught. She didn't have the clearance to get information the same way he did so she was limited, this would be the perfect opportunity. Veronica had her camera in her bag, and some of her PI equipment, most of which she assumed to be illegal but she wasn't going to play by the rules if she wanted to learn anything. Things could have been different if she was being mentored by someone who cared, but she was dealt the hand she was dealt and that's all there was too it. Approximately four hours later they arrived on the scene, feeling a little nauseous from the ride over she regained her balance and took in her surroundings. The area was familiar, though most of California was for her. Beginning to walk around a little she was going to grab her camera when her phone began ringing. Looking at the caller I.D she noticed it was her dad, hopefully he wasn't anywhere nearby because Veronica was not meant to be in her home state.

"Dad, to what do I owe this pleasure" She said trying to sound chipper and less distracted.

"Oh daughter of mine I was just checking in on you" Keith could tell his daughter was focusing on something else but he'd play along for now.

"Dad I'm fine really, I'm eating my vegies and going to bed on time" She said in a familiar sarcastic tone.

"Ha ha very funny. I heard about the new victim the police found, I just wanted to make sure you're alright, stay safe"

I was hard to keep the nature of her conversation secret when so many agents were around. Ducking behind a car she tried to cut the chat short. "I'm fine I swear, look you caught me at a bad time I need to get these files copied and back to my boss as soon as possible" She lied hoping he'd drop it.

"Okay sweetie, sorry for holding you up I'll call you again tomorrow. Love you" After both of them said good-bye he hung up but he knew she was lying, whatever she was up to it wasn't what she said it was. He knew Veronica better than that.

Tucking her phone back into her pocket she made sure no one had caught her, she was fairly confident that other agents didn't have their dad checking up on them on the job. Trying to avoid coming in contact with any agent that may want to consult her she grabbed her camera out and walked under the yellow tape to have a look. Veronica was aware that other agents most likely would have already photographed the scene but she needed some shots for her own use, there was no chance Arthur would let her see the case files. Luckily she just blended in, everyone else was either concerned with forensics, interviewing possible suspects or entertaining the press which meant she was free to photograph the happenings. However she really hadn't anticipated the state of the murder, seeing pictures of it was hard but being there in person was even harder. Numerous little yellow markers indicated points of shrapnel from the grenades, she photographed that, there were also foot prints she photographed those also. What she really wanted to see though was the body, the coroner was about to retrieve the numerous parts, the victims extremities had all been severed in a gruesome manner but her torso remained in tact and the thing that struck Veronica the most was her slit throat. Preventing herself from gawking she quickly snapped some pictures, apologising to the coroner so he could remove the body so that he could make an official report.

Ducking under the yellow tape she looked back through the photos taken and really regretted it once doing so. Lilly's murder was horrible, heart wrenching, her rape was regrettable, the bus explosion horrific, everything she had witnessed over the recent years had been horrible but none of it could equate to the magnitude of this horror. This maniac had murdered five innocent women and anyone could see that the acts were becoming more treacherous. There had not been many psychotic serial killers in recent years and this was quickly turning into a media frenzy, the press were all over this claiming he was the new jack the ripper of course the victims were not prostitutes but anything to get people buying the paper. Sighing she shoved her camera back into her bag and looked for the same agent who had given her lift in, following the ground she didn't even realise the shadow pouring down on her until she heard a familiar voice hissing at her.

"What are you doing here?!" Arthur exclaimed looking positively annoyed.

"Well an agent so kindly offered for me to ride in their helicopter here so I could further my education because my 'mentor' would rather have me do his paperwork" Veronica said deciding for once to stick up for herself, consequences be damned. Arthur had not been expecting a come back like that and fumbled on his words for a second.

"Yeah well you're not cleared for field duty, I could get fired for this" He exclaimed grabbing her arm and leading her back towards the makeshift helicopter landing.

"The agency can only hope" She said snidely, she was on a roll and all this built up rage towards him was spewing out.

"Get in, I'm taking you back to HQ" He said as a helicopter conveniently landed.

"OH really? You sure? Because I'm sure I could go and tell the chief right now that you let me out here, and that instead of teaching me about the job I may one day want I've basically been condemned to being your secretary" She could almost see the steam pouring from his ears as he hated being on the other side of the blackmail.

"Fine tomorrow I'll teach you something" He said as though just saying those words would kill him.

"How about this, you palm me off on someone else, win win situation" Veronica prayed he would go for this, she really loathed the man who was standing before her.

His face curled up in defeat and he sighed with extreme exasperation. "Okay okay! Whatever you want, just get in the damn helicopter"

With a smirk on her face she climbed back into the helicopter, with Arthur besides her. The pilot asked why they were leaving so soon and he just had to make up some lame excuse and she could see his jaw twitching the entire time he spoke. Though he should have known better than to get on Veronica's bad side because usually those people didn't come out unscathed. For Arthur the flight back to HQ seemed like it dragged on for days, he always felt as though the conniving blondes eyes were boring into his brain. Eventually they arrived back and her former mentor was quick to dismiss her, Veronica took it in her stride knowing that tomorrow she would be with someone who would probably have at least an ounce of respect for her. When she walked through the lobby towards the elevator she felt the slight spring in her step and it was as though nothing could get her down. The first thing she was going to do before the day was out was to examine the photos she had taken. She didn't expect to find something that the other agents missed but merely to understand the killer in one way, perhaps get to know their tells but she had to constantly remind herself that this wasn't a PI case she was solving for a high school associate. It was less obvious than she had previously anticipated, there was nothing she could see right out and Veronica decided that perhaps she should come back to it tomorrow perhaps with a new helpful pair of eyes to guide her. By the time she was done it was late anyway so she decided to call it a night.

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As she neared the hotel in which she was staying she decided to check her phone in what must have been the first time that day since her dad called. Sliding it open she noticed the few messages from Logan and a couple from Piz, at first she was upset with Logan well more so angry. She know she was sending mixed signals in his directions but she thought he'd at least give it a rest for a day or two and then with Piz she wasn't sure what to do. His message was sweet, an endearing apology and she knew she wasn't being fair to him. She wasn't being fair to anyone really. If only in a situation like this things could be black and white. Deciding to call her boyfriend, even though only a short time had passed since seeing him things were beginning to feel distant. Veronica attributed that to Logan's sudden appearance in Virginia. Listening to the ringing across the line she waited for that familiar voice to sound.

"Veronica" Piz said relieved and happy. He had thought that their fight had really damaged what he thought was a good thing.

"Hey" She said quietly, mustering up some of her sweetness.

"I'm so sorry about last night, I really didn't mean to talk to you that way" He sounded so sincere which only made the guilt she was currently feel sink down into her stomach even further.

"You respected my wishes" She said with a slight laugh, referring to the fact she said she'd call him.

"Oh yeah, I was really worried you wouldn't call I'm so glad you did though...so are we okay?" It was the question he felt was necessary to ask, he had sought after this girl for so long that now he actually had her, experienced what Veronica Mars was in the most intimate of senses he didn't want to let go of it.

Veronica had to think for a moment, the elevator dinging as it arrived on her floor, she stepped out of the elevator and began walking to her room. Thinking about the question honestly, and honestly she knew the answer was no but she couldn't bring herself to verbalise it because then it would be real.

"Veronica?" Piz was getting a little concerned, worried that the outcome would not be in his favour.

"Yeah we're okay, sorry I couldn't find my room key" Really it had been in her hand the whole time. Entering her room she took a deep breath and began to speak. "I'm sorry about the fight last night, I shouldn't have behaved that way. I have to try and learn to keep work separate from personal but it's hard. It wasn't fair for me to take it out on you, and I hope you can forgive me, I know I can make it up to you when I get back" For the most part she believed it herself to some extent.

"Of course I'll forgive you, so um when you get back ey you'll make it up to me?" He said with a small laugh.

"Yeah but until then you'll just have to settle for phone calls"

"I can deal with that, hey I have to go Wallace is apparently taking me out to some party...wish me luck"

"Don't get too drunk Piz, you know how you get"

"Yeah yeah, I'll speak to you soon okay"

"Definitely" Both of them hung up one having more of a sunnier demeanour than the other.

For Veronica it was becoming harder and harder to keep up the charade and wanted to let her instincts take hold just for once and that's exactly what ended up happening. Her phone was thrown down on her bed and her legs carried her out of her room and down the hall directly to Logan's room. Knocking on the door twice she waited for a reply, she needed him to be quick before she turned back and changed her mind. The clock was counting down and she was muttering to herself. Beyond the door she could hear Logan shouting to hold on. Though she wasn't sure she could but she was glad when he did finally open the door, the fact he was only in a towel didn't hurt either because what happened next he didn't see coming. Veronica practically grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled her down into a smouldering kiss. At first Logan tried to pull away to talk but Veronica put that to a quick stop. Silencing him once again with her lips and he eventually followed suit. Kissing back, with tiny strides out of the doorway and closer to the bed. It felt so right because she had been denying herself this pleasure for days now when it was what she had wanted all along. It felt good to finally be honest with herself.


	6. Chapter 6

What's this? An update? Oh my god, could it be? Yes yes it is. It has been a while but having rewatched every season of Veronica Mars for the third time I felt inspired to write. I will no longer promise or even hint at a deadline for the next chapter because I can't. All I will say is that I'm no where near done with this and reviews do help. So I'll update when I update and I think there will be a little bit of a fast forward in the next chapter nothing too drastic but all the more juicier.

Oh and if anyone is wondering what the earrings look like, here is the link.

.com/shared/media/products/23262509_M_

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It's just like how all the movies portray it. You wake up with that immense sense of guilt and you attempt to convince yourself that you did absolutely nothing wrong, it was all a dream right? Wrong. Her eyes despite her inner thoughts pried themselves open, the last thing Veronica wanted to do was roll over and see Logan lying next to her but she could hear the sound of him breathing so really her nightmare had been confirmed. Quietly she reached for her phone, she checked the time she had work soon and she wanted to avoid the awkward confrontation at all costs. She had already played out the conversation that would take place in her mind. 'So?' 'Yeah, about last night...' 'Does that mean?' 'I don't know' yeah a bunch of unanswered questions that would remain to go unanswered for as long as she could avoid the conversation. Pulling the comforter off she tried to be as stealthy as humanly possible. She cringed with every step she took, grabbing her strewn clothes from the for and tippy toeing down the hall back to her room. At least this walk of shame was less like the ones that happened back at her old alma mata, how she missed that place. As soon as she returned to her room she ran for the shower. Anything to get her mind off the instant replay that had decided to air in her brain.

There was no denying that she had enjoyed her evening with Logan, she always did, he had this way about him in the bedroom that drove her wild but that was besides the point. The conscience she had buried had poked its little head out and was doing its job. Number one regret being having not had the guts to break up with Piz. Veronica Mars was someone who you could describe as having too many guts, being too confident and too tough but the reality was when it came to the matter of the heart she had anything but guts. All her past relationship woes intermingled with the parental relationships she had really messed with her ability to be one of those Sally Sue type girlfriends who couldn't even imagine being unfaithful. The blonde usually loathed those who cheated but now on the other side of the fence she had a different opinion. What to do? Go to work, meet your new boss and act as though nothing actually happened. Now it was time to live by that mantra, especially when you had to be at work in fifteen minutes. She had no difficulties springing into a new frame of mind as she raced off to work, Veronica Mars all business. Personal life? What is that? She wouldn't have the first idea. That was the character she was playing today.

"Miss Mars, I was beginning to wonder if you're the type of agent that is a truant" A tall athletically built woman stood waiting in the lobby, her hazel hair pulled back into a business like bun.

"Forgive me, I was busy preparing myself for this particular encounter" She bluffed, hoping her skills were still as sharp as they were the previous day.

While the agent looked like the serious type she quickly lightened up and handed Veronica a thin manilla folder. "My name is agent Natalia Pointere and that in your hot little hands is forensic report found from the latest crime scene. Things will be a little different for you from here on out. I know how Arthur likes to order people around when he gets the chance but he's not really top dog here so you'll be fine. I'll actually teach you something"

Now this had been Veronica's hope from the beginning to get someone like Natalia, who wanted to teach potential future agents. Opening the folder she glanced at the piece of paper she didn't really know a lot of the terminology but she was able to piece together the general gist. "Thank you so much, so what is it you want me to do?" She asked as she followed the agent down the corridors of desks towards hers.

"Glad you asked, I want to see what your observation skills are like, I don't know how much you already know about the case but I have the other reports for you to cross references. Let's see if you can notice a pattern, see if you can keep up with us" Natalia handed Veronica several more folders identical to the one she had currently open.

Sure Veronica had already begun her own little side investigation but that was before she was actually allowed to help. It wasn't as though she thought she could crack the case but she had already spotted some commonalities between victims. "I'll get to it" She said as she sat down, she'd give it a couple hours before telling agent Pointere what she had already figured out. She was jotting down some things, little things she guessed most agents would have noticed that was until that sometimes pleasant but at this time annoying vibrating was felt in her pocket. Discretely she grabbed it and checked the message. Logan, obviously she thought to herself. 'What no breakfast sex? I thought you knew how to show a guy a good time ;) xx' Veronica didn't even have to read the caller I.D to know it was from him. Now was not the time to deal with this, shoving her problems away like she did when she couldn't fix it with intimidation and a quick wit she went back to work.

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"Vick, rent is due come on man you said you'd be good for it this month" The pounding on his apartment door continued as it did every first Tuesday of the month.

"Yeah yeah I have it" Vicktor Bartnev of the 15th floor in apartment 14B said in his unnaturally weedy voice. A medium built, pale young man with cropped dark hair opened the door with a wad of cash prepared for the almost stereotypically fat balding land lord.

"Great, I didn't want to have a repeat incident of last time. See ya next month" That was the end of the conversation but not of the memories.

The incident he was referring to was when Arnold his landlord and his two equally as built brothers ambushed him in the parking lot near the apartment complex. The result was a black eye and maybe a crack rib he wouldn't know he never got it check out. A psychologist could probably explain all the ways these many powerless situations Vicktor found himself in is why he does what he does to all those poor women. Honestly he didn't care what the background was because he enjoyed it. As he re-chained the door he turned around, marvelling at his masterpiece. His own interpretation of the Sistine chapel. Numerous photos of young females were pinned up all over his walls, some of the photos were marked with dates, times, numbers an order of some sort. All of it was his work in progress. There were before and after shots, though those images were limited but his intention was to have an after shot for each and ever woman that appeared on his wall.

"If only the world knew what I was capable of" He said taking a seat at his 'work-bench' he had several pages from various manuscripts and books pinned up along side photos. His particular favourite were the brief writings Leonardo Da Vinci, while the sane person would interpret them as perceptions for machinery of the future however to Vicktor's twisted mind it was a testament of how beauty could be build and to him what he was doing was taking apart the ugly he saw in his every day life. As far as he was concerned this was a world where he would not be caught because in his world he was the new god. He was overseeing the reconstruction of mankind. He was removing the impurities from these women, cleansing their soul in a more obscure fashion. Right now he was highlighting passages and attaching to them to his next victim. He wasn't quite prepared yet for the crescendo but he was about to begin the symphony finally, practice time was over.

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Logan had been in his time as a woman loving male the one to leave before the female woke up, but never had it happened in reverse and never by Veronica Mars. Perhaps that was because never before had he been a one night stand or a regret to her before but now it was definitely feeling that way. So it came as a shock when he rolled over in the morning to find that his favourite ball busting blonde was no where to be found. Rolling back over he stared at the ceiling for a bit before removing himself from the bed. Logan never had insecurities about his bedroom performance and he knew that his performance wasn't the issue this time around so it definitely had something to do with the fact that he had just taken to bed a girl who was currently in a relationship. Obviously he couldn't just chalk it up to any normal cheating floozey because Veronica was anything but, so now he felt a little guilty for pushing her into it, that's what he assumed had happened. Although then there was the conflict that Veronica only did what she wanted to do. So now he was back to square one, why did she leave if she had wanted to be there in the first place?

Though he already knew the answer to that before the question had even popped into his mind, he'd pushed into doing something she would never have done unless she still had feelings for him. Then why did he feel so guilty when this was a small victory for him, easy he'd turned the woman he loved into the one thing she never wanted to be; a cheater. This wasn't enough guilt however to stop him from this game, he was Logan Echolls after all. His new strategy would be to try the nice guy routine, something foreign to him but hopefully it would pay off. He was going to surprise her at work but not directly, maybe go use some platinum at a jewellery store first. If this had a better success rate than the duck out before dawn routine then he'd keep going. Smirking to himself with approval to what he considered to be a genius plan he jumped in the shower, he had to look his best in order to not be seen by the one he admired. That was he heard his phone ringing and thought for an instance it was Veronica, calling to arrange some other meeting but no when he grabbed his phone it was Dick.

"Dick to what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked sitting down on the bed still panting from the quick sprint.

"Dude who have you been banging? Veronica? Because no matter how bitchy I'd still nail that" He said chuckling.

Logan's jaw twitched slightly, Dick was a knuckle head and if was in his presence right now he probably would have thrown a punch. "The point Dick, is it emerging any time soon?"

"Oh right, yeah so you totally don't mind if I throw a party?"

"I am shocked you called, mainly because I expected you to already have thrown one. Go ahead just no one in my room" That was the end of that deep and meaningful conversation, now he really was wishing Veronica had called. Sending her a quick text he left his room, ready to put his new strategy into full effect.

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"Okay so number one thing I discovered" Veronica said as she looked up from them scattered case files. "All the victims are from lower middle class suburban areas. No apartments and no pools or Ferraris waiting for them"

Natalia smiled, Veronica was on the right track so far nothing they hadn't missed of course but they were the FBI after all.

"Number two, all the victims were currently single, no ex husbands no kids no ties so it suggests that the killer is attracted to the type of woman with the least attachments to this world. Maybe he has some issues with relationships" She posed, continuing to seek approval which she was getting.

"Don't stop now, you're on a role" The senior agent said, leaning forward to see what the young intern had to offer next.

"Number three, while an autopsy was impossible for the most part to perform the same chemical traces were found on each of the victims remains. Not only that but on the very last victim there was a lot of blood found which suggests maybe other than the explosion she may have died another way."

"Well it looks like you're on par with everything the FBI found, you should know that we are still canvassing the areas for possible eye witnesses maybe trying to pin point a common location or interest that linked the victims. Usually we try to keep these cases fairly open and shut, the longer we draw them out the more the press get involved and we don't want the victims to keep piling up. The last thing the FBI want is to make history with a serial killer case. Now there isn't much we can do from here but the CBI are corresponding for us we're just using our specialists here to make this go a whole lot easier." Natalia said as she stood up and straightened out her skirt.

All this wasn't exactly news to Veronica, she was able to piece together the separate parts and form these assumptions. What she wasn't quite sure of though was what specialities the Virginia department had to offer that made them important enough to be on the case. She wouldn't say anything because as far as she was concerned these guys were hot shots and they would solve this case. Following her mentor towards a empty conference room they went in. There was a large white board with notes jotted down as well as pin boards with numerous photos attached.

"Now what you see here is just like in the TV shows, except this isn't false. Virginia is well known for training up the best profilers in the biz, which is why we were contacted first when this case was proven to be more than just a murder. The conclusions some of our profilers have come to is that from character witnesses as well as family the victims were all what you would call upstanding citizens, fine young women who were young enough to lose too much. They all had blossoming careers and were really just establishing themselves in this world. According to the experts to kill someone so undeserving takes someone who sees something in the victims that most normal people don't. I'm not just telling you these things so that you feel some kind of pressure to go out and pull some MacGyver tactics but just so that you're aware."

For once in her life Veronica felt slightly overwhelmed by the severity of the case, sure she had helped solve a mass murder, as well as a rape case and two other murders on top of that but this was something that went interstate. Most of what she had been involved in was small town stuff. Now she felt as though despite Natalia's insistent that she was meant to turn into some jedi criminal profiler. "The thing is I forgot my nail file and string, so I can't really make a bomb right now but if you give me a paper clip a pencil and some thumb tacks I may just be able to make a rocket launcher" She said with a smirk.

"Hah, you've got a good sense of humour, that's pretty rare in this business. I guess all the grim things we see can make a person too serious. Try not to let that happen. For now though I think it's time we go for some lunch. After I may just teach you some interview techniques"

"You know I am a qualified Private Investigator right? I know how to lean on someone to get the answers I want" She said with a smirk as she headed back to the cubicle to grab her stuff.

"We know everything about you Miss Mars, and you may think you know a lot but we're only just getting started with you."

As they reached the lobby Veronica was stopped by the hissing of the sour receptionist.

"For a second there I was beginning to think you didn't like me. But really it is a relief to know that you just want our friendship to be a secret" She said hoping for some kind of reaction but no still that same little scowl.

"A young man dropped this off for you" The receptionist said as she handed over a small gift wrapped box. "Is he your boyfriend?" All of the sudden the receptionist transformed into a gossipy teenage girl.

Every time Veronica thought she was away from high school it would just sneak up on her as though it was something you just couldn't run away from. "Seriously? Why is it that no body can get over being sixteen?" That shut the receptionist up, back to being sour she went.

Meanwhile Veronica examined the box, she knew exactly who it was from she didn't need to be a criminal profiler to figure that out. It was pretty clear, Piz didn't send jewellery or have the funds to not that having sparkly things was a big deal. Someone with the initials L.E was responsible, at first she was thinking of just dumping the gift but curiosity always got to her. She just had to know what he had so inappropriately bought for her. Then when she looked inside the box she knew without a doubt that they were from Logan. He and Duncan were the only two men who knew her jewellery tastes and Duncan was of course in Australia so process of elimination ruled him out. Resting on tissue paper were a pair of turquoise teardrop drop earrings, they sure did look expensive and she did love them. That wasn't the point though, the point was the moment she'd put them on she'd be admitting to her infidelity and the undeniable fact that she was still very much attached to Logan. Instead she put the small box in her bag and caught up to Natalia. And of course sending a text message to Logan, nothing threatening or romantic something simple and very Veronica like. 'Was that at all necessary?'


End file.
